I recently had my first coaching session with Andrew at Smoothrider and feel I should write a review that tries to do the session justice.

From the initial assessment conversation on the phone, through the session itself and in the final debrief, I have found Andrew a pleasure to deal with. He is calm, patient, extremely knowledgeable, and is able to give clear constructive feedback in a way that does not knock your confidence. I felt safe throughout the riding, and was never pushed to do anything that didn't ‘feel right’ but at the same time was shown how I could use better observation and planning to allow for safer overtakes and filtering.

I made a couple of minor mistakes while riding some of the more challenging road sections; running wide on corners that were on a downhill gradient for example. While I knew at the time that my speed and cornering was not ideal, I was not made to feel foolish or unsafe and this was discussed calmly and professionally. It is never nice to hear criticism, but Andrews manner is excellent and I was able to try and improve without feeling embarrassed - something which is easy to do when being coached by someone with so much experience and passion for what he does.

My main area of improvement following the session has got to be my road positioning. At the start of the session, I felt most comfortable trying to stay in the middle of the lane. By the end of the session, Andrews coaching gave me the confidence to use the whole road (where legal and safe!) in order to see further around bends and to perceive possible hazards earlier, allowing time to plan ahead and actively avoid them rather than react to them as they occur.

Towards the end of the session, I felt that a lot of the coaching was coming together and each move started to flow smoothly  into the next. This is something that I was not anticipating at the start of the day, and has spurred me on to try and apply all of the advice given on my everyday rides. My work commute is far more engaging and enjoyable for it and I am starting to plan some longer rides in my spare time.

I cannot thank Andrew enough for a really enjoyable days coaching, and I will certainly be looking to book more sessions in future.

If you are looking for further rider development and want something that is tailored to you, rather than something prescriptive, then give Smoothrider a call and book a session.

Alec Wilkinson